OBJECTIVE: ONE MILLION MEN AND WOMEN.

Christians say: “heaven helps those who help themselves” this is one doctrine, shared in common by Moslems with their fellow believers. Constantly on social networks and public comments, one regular remark made by Nigerians and the same thing in other parts of Africa is: “only God or Allah can help us solve all these problems”. This hope, from the invincible God or Allah is in contradiction with the dictate “heaven helps those who help themselves” hence, we say to you all brothers and sisters out there: “shoulder your arms and come!” The only way to take our country back from those PDP, APC, and Paracetamole or is it Alabukun powder is to get organized. Join our Movement Against Second Slavery (MASS) on facebook or simply click “like” on our facebook Radio Shrine page and our Radio Shrine g+ page, when we have one million registered men and women in our rank, we can ask those VIPs (Vagabonds In Power) in Abuja: “WHERE IS OUR MONEY?”

At this point in our history, it is necessary to be determined in our purpose as all things that have happened in the history of humanity were due to the human determination and decisions. Today’s Africa has no political power to impose her will on any world body, no government in Africa has the economic power to impose on international level, Africa of today has no scientific power to impose, hence the idea to build a new Africa that has the weight to impose her ideas on the world level. Weak nations don’t count today - it is not a question of if Africa count or not, it is more an affair that relates to strength. If you are weak, even if you are White, Chinese, Red or Black, you will be annihilated. But if you are strong and can impose your will, you will be respected. This is the way things go - it is the rule of the game.

Thus it is not an affair of being good or bad. Africa needs leaders that can make the right decisions, if Africa cannot decide she will always be dominated and pushed aside. If Africa decides to be strong, she will be strong. Did anyone decide for China? No! Chinese leaders decided to make their nation one of the strongest in the world - today they are a strong nation. Do you believe that there are miracles to make a people strong in the world today? Nobody can decide for a people except their own leaders, thus it is for us (the people) to choose those we want to lead us. We have both competent men and women, we have intellectuals, we have capable doctors, we have scientists, why then does Nigeria and indeed Africa not have the right leadership? Why are we in the habit of recycling the same politicians known to be corrupt and inept?

As earlier indicated in one of my posts, the on-going world-wide campaign to free Nigeria’s school girls kidnapped by Boko Haram and the way it is being handled by the current Nigerian government, more than ever points to the fact that it is time for us as a people to take an inventory of our so-called institutions. If our institutions cannot serve the purpose of their creation, it is time to scrap them and build new institutions in their place. Everyone is heralding the arrival of America’s G.I’s, British and French Special Forces, in our search for the kidnapped school girls in the North of Nigeria, but no one is asking questions about those paid to protect and defend Nigeria’s sovereignty. We have thousands of retired and active military five or four star so-called “Generals” in the country, what are they doing or proposing as solution in this chaos?

At the end of the Biafra civil war, they led or are leading more than 250,000 man army that today we can see are incompetent and inept. Back in the 80’s, a spokesman for the Lagos State Police Command described the Nigerian Army as a bunch of lazy men eating pepper-soup and drinking beer – with only one thought how to plan coup d’états. From General Obasanjo to General Danjuma, General Babangida to General Buhari, General Diya to General David Mark – the list is long and none of them are putting forward concrete ideas on how to put an end to these carnage. One is inclined to think this is on purpose, planned like the case in Egypt where the Armed Forces helped unofficially to install the Moslem Brotherhood in power knowing fully well that their policies would only add to the chaotic situation. After one year of chaos, the Egyptian Army staged the coup to remove the Moslem Brotherhood from power. They presented the new crop of Army Generals as saviours in what can be seen as Army Arrangement – apology Fela Kuti.

Like the case of the “Arab Spring” in Egypt that swept former Military dictator Hosni Mubarak from power, January 15, 1966 saw Nigerians from all works of life trooping to the streets to welcome the first ever military coup d’état in the country. Their jubilation stemmed from the aspiration that the military will deliver them from the persistent wave of corruption and political gangsters: burning down of homes of those considered as opponent – a common scene in the Northern and Southern parts of the country (News: Nigerian Parliamentarians in fists fights – ‘Noise for Vendor Mouth’ apology Fela).The climate of insecurity which was the order of the day in the Nigerian contemporary politics of the early sixties, paved the way for the arrival of the military in the political arena. Since their arrival in the political scene, the aspiration of Nigerian people has over the years been transformed into nightmare with the military taking the country through a civil war and the spectre of another looming as we see from events in the Northern parts of Nigeria with Boko Haram and the never-ending military uprising in the oil producing region in the South East of Nigeria. There is no doubt that haven tasted power; all the so-called Army Generals are finding it hard to relinquish it.

The introduction of Islamic fanaticism in our culture calls for concern. Same can be said of Christian fanaticism. Abraham or Ibrahim - the patriarch of both Christian and Moslem religions was not born when our black ancestors built the pyramids. Nok culture and the hieroglyphic writings of Isibidi people of Cross River State are perfect examples of our common ancestry with Egypt of the Black pharaohs. The cultural, linguistic, and religious, unity of all Africa is no longer in doubt thanks to archaeological excavations and the works of Africans the likes of Cheikh Anta Diop continued by Theophile Obenga. Granted, the level of political awareness of our people in Africa is hampered by their religious believes and the will to fight for our rights are still yet to be a motivating factor, we can learn from our North African neighbours whose motivation is the chronic economic malaise and the growing disparity between rich and poor.

Democratic aspirations is common to all people under subjugation - the youths today have no jobs and nothing to do, economic conditions, racism, and police brutality are reasons for the mass uprising of youths world-wide. The demand for change, in the way politics is done in the 21st century is what is pushing the youths into the streets. Thanks to social networks we can see this with the movement of indignant youths in Europe, the ‘Occupy Wall Street’ movement in North America, and those of North Africa and Arab streets. Social networking has enabled exchange of information and helped avoid the classic diversion that takes away people’s focus. They are perfect mediums, for us to investigate why 99% of our people are suffering while 1% is smiling (apology Fela Kuti -Suffering and Smiling).

The Egyptian scenario is more or less what Nigerians are currently experiencing. The state of insecurity in the country, and the decadence of our institutions show clearly that we have to act now. All our so-called institutions are not serving the purpose for which they were created – be it government and her other branches: the armed forces, the judiciary, health services, education, etc. We have an untrained and unequipped military that aren’t their when we need them most. The People’s Democratic Party (PDP), government in power has no possible solution – same can be said of the opposition All Progressive Congress (APC) or is it Paracetamol /Alabukun powder? Remember that most of those claiming to be opposition to the PDP government, were former members of the same party they left to join APC. In the last decades we agree, trust has completely evaporated from our public life, no-body believes the word of politicians, corporate leaders, bankers, religious figures, etc. They have in the majority been exposed as total frauds, hence an urgent need for action to take our country and indeed continent back.

As earlier indicated in one of my posts the on-going world-wide campaign, to free Nigeria’s school girls kidnapped by Boko Haram is an indication that with awareness and the will necessary, we can mobilize our forces to make a change in any African society thanks to social network. Organized, no government in this world can ignore our collective voices. This was proven with the case of then 15-year-old girl Mahala Yousafzai, shot in the head by the Taliban for going to school. Another good example is the on-going “bring-our-girls-home” campaign world wide. In the 70’s when we were publishing monthly and distributing for free 80,000 copies of YAP NEWS (Young African Pioneers news letter), we didn’t have those entire social network available today. Maybe if we had, the more than 40,000 civilians standing and watching while 1,000 Nigerian Army soldiers were burning down in broad-day-light Fela’s Kalakuta Republic would have reacted differently.

To get organised, we all agree that education is the key to make any difference but certainly, not the type of education existing in Africa today. Have we stopped to ask ourselves why there are such high drop-out rates in African schools? The answer is not far fetched; our school children have nothing to identify with, they have been taught to look-up to Europe and America for inspiration. According to books available in the school curriculum: maths, history, reading, writing, etc were invented in Europe and the Western Hemisphere – leaving African children with an inferiority complex. It is time for us as a people to take an inventory of our so-called institutions. If they cannot serve the purpose of their creation, it is time to scrap them and build new institutions in their place.

We can see that those paid to protect and defend Nigeria’s sovereignty, are incapable to perform the duty assigned them. Why do we need to keep spending our resources to keep such institution going? Agreed to disband a more than 250,000 man Army, is creating other problems like letting loose of thugs that could become potential armed-robbers, etc. As solution, I uphold the idea to disband all Nigerian Armed Forces personnel, send them to State owned farms to work on the land to produce food, and others to construct roads and bridges in our villages. In their place we select and train, interested professional soldiers with a different orientation and education.

To this end, the government can introduce a compulsory civil and military service for all youths from the age of 16. All the lands appropriated during the “land use decrees” introduced by our so-called ex-Generals can be recovered for these purposes. All the Generals mentioned above own vast lands all over the country since they left power, with a collective and cohesive action from the people we can take back what they forcibly took from our collective treasury. As I stated above, nobody can decide for a people except their own leaders, thus it is for us (the people) to choose those we want to lead us. Take United States of America for example, they were how many leaders who came together to make the necessary decision to unite? They were not so numerous, maybe about twenty people who made that decision. They came together with Benjamin Franklin and decided it was necessary to make a federation of United States of America.

They were not talking about developing political consciousness, they made the necessary decision. If we do not decide now, we will continue to speak about: political consciousness, awareness, cultural identity of Africa, all these to me are times lost. Africa’s current leaders are mostly not the leaders that can make the necessary decision to take our country and indeed continent back. Take North Korea for example, their leaders took the necessary decision to make their country strong, not letting anyone decide their future from the exterior. Today who makes their decision, not the UN, not USA, not European Union either! To decide, we need to have certain ideological direction. Iran decided and they are forcing the world to listen sanction or not. The United States decided on the choice of federation, they were just a few states at the start that made the decision to make a federation. Who told them to make such federation? Certainly it is not Europeans, it is not the French, it is not the English that told them to decide - there are no miracles to such situation.

There is a book, written in the United States about the constitution during their declaration of Independence - the title is the “final decision”. It could serve us as a model, to re-enforce the power of our constitution. Future Nigerian leaders from counsellor to the presidency should stop swearing by the Bible or the Quran when they take the oat of office – we should replace those religious books with the constitution. It is what binds us together as a nation and it should be accorded that prime place instead of the Bible or Quran. Another important reason to join our Movement Against Second Slavery (MASS) is that it cuts across all religious or racial lines. The 21st century message of Fela the founder of MASS is capitalism where morality is not capital is a shame and got to stop. It is not morally right to use the social welfare contributions of the masses to bail-out big banks during economic crises, while the same system considers providing health care for all as socialism.

This is the important part of afrobeat message, Fela should not be only a commercial success on Broadway and Wall Street, Fela’ ideas should be heard on Pennsylvania Avenue, Downing Street, Elysée, and all the seats of power around the globe. Another issue that concerns all of us as humans is the need to review bank-client relations. 90% of all legal financial transactions pass through banks; this makes 99% of the population in every society major auctioneer of all the banks operating in that society - the rest 10% we can assume belongs to the rich and private fortunes that constitute 1% of the society. To avoid incidence of crashing banks and repetitive economic crises, legislation should be put in place that obliges banks to invest the savings from the 99% on social welfare, health, education, retirement schemes, etc. If the rest 1% investors want banks to gamble and play casino and lotto with their fortunes, it is their problem – otherwise whenever there is bank crisis, the savings from the majority should in no way be used to bail-out the minority.

For example, the social welfare system - a good mixture of socialism and capitalism has served well the UK for the past 70 years - government healthcare, schools, police, and fire, public services, mixed with free markets. What has failed is that sections of the market have become more liberalised and less regulated. I’m in no way saying that people should be encouraged to live on government hand-outs. To get people back to work, governments can impose the employment of two people on the job. We are generally employed and paid for eight working hours per day; however the time we spend on the job, is less than five hours per day if we take into consideration the time we spend getting on the job, time we spend to make piss and cigarette breaks, the time we spend to chat with colleagues (of course this depends on the nature of job), etc. If each worker spends four hours on the job, the person can give his or her maximum giving room for the substitute to give another maximum of four hours on the same job. It will put people to work, and give room for self improvements from the working pull. People will have the option to spend the extra four hours available to them on advancing their studies and skills, or simply spend time with family or friends like Linton Kwesi Johnson sang in ‘More Time’.

Finally, we have to understand that “globalization” today is a fight, a strategic fight of diverse interests, sometimes very opposite. It is little necessary to recognize in the current world that there is not either “concert of nations,” or “international community” really fair nor democratic as decried Fela in ‘Beasts of No Nation’. What is at stake is political, economic, military, linguistic, cultural interests, appropriate for every State or Nation, for every region, for every civilization, that make the weft of “globalization”, which is nothing else than one contemporary “world economy”. “Globalization” strengthens those that are already strong, and weakens those that are indifferent to the governance of the world. The suitable way or rather fair distribution of the national income is a policy which demands and encourages collective effort, to make a success of the development of the country. The energy of our young people cannot be mobilized by examples of decadence and corruptions but inevitably of a dialectical necessity by concrete examples of patriotism, dedication, without compromise, as enumerated all along this post with the example of Fela and other Pan-Africanist like him.

Like Burning Spear sang: “BOTHERS AND SISTERS! SHOULDER YOUR ARMS AND COME!”
THE ONLY WAY TO TAKE OUR COUNTRY BACK IS TO GET ORGANIZED. JOIN OUR MOVEMENT AGAINST SECOND SLAVERY (MASS) NOW! WHEN WE HAVE ONE MILLION REGISTERED MEMBERS IN OUR RANK, WE CAN ASK THOSE VIPs (VAGABONDS IN POWER) IN ABUJA: “WHERE IS OUR MONEY?”

Join our Movement Against Second Slavery (MASS) on facebook or simply click “like” on our facebook Radio Shrine page and our Radio Shrine g+ page NOW!